The current trend in the design of external electrical connections to circuit boards is to surface mount technology with increased densities of these connections. This trend toward high density connections is necessitated by virtue of the fact that circuit boards and the like have an ever increasing number of circuits and functions which must be connected externally, thus requiring an increased number of connections on the board; hence, a higher density of reliable connections or connectors is required in order to adequately service the various signal and other electrical requirements of the printed circuit boards.
In one type of circuit board environment, the connections are designed to bring signal lines and drain lines to the circuit board from coaxial or triaxial cables. In the past, these connections have typically taken the form of either soldered connections directly between the wires of the cables and pads on the boards or compliant pins inserted into holes in the circuit board or circuit card (pin-in-hole). In the case of pin-in-hole connections, these have tied up valuable internal wiring planes as well as necessitating relatively wide spacing between adjacent connections, thus limiting the density of connections that can be made on the surface of the card or board. In the case of soldered connections, these also require significant spacing between connections, as well as requiring very accurate solder joints, all precisely placed and well made. These joints are also subject to failure due to stress on the cables.